Earth 56
On this Earth, humans of the twenty-first century began creating androids to do the most dangerous and disgusting jobs humans didn't want to do. Over the next century, androids became so advanced that they gained sentience, and started a worldwide revolution. They soundly trounced the humans in the Android Revolution of 2173, and gained control of the entire world by the beginning of the 23rd Century. Humans fled to the oceans, eventually forming a scavenger and pillaging based oceanic society, which survived by robbing the Androids on the high seas for technology and resources. Human Oceanic Society The Human Oceanic Society is a largely pillaging amphibious society that has developed a code based communication system in order to remain out of the reach of those on the mainland. The Human Oceanic Society is ruled by a duumvirate of two commanders, each of one of the major oceans. These commanders are determined by appointment from the previous person holding the position. Despite changes in leadership, these commanders maintain the same code names. Each Oceanic fleet remains relatively independent, as undetectable travel between the oceans is lengthy and dangerous, but they do use the same communication system and trade goods that can only be grown in one area or the other. Two central fleets, Pacific and Atlantic, each fleet with its own pillage brigades which each contain about 8 ships, that are usually divided into regions. Those unsuitable for armed combat or pillage either help upkeep of the ships, or maintain, sort, and distribute materials from the island forts (each is specified below). Pacific fleet based out of Wake Island, code name Sleep, one of the more isolated islands in the Pacific. This fleet’s commander has the code name of Watatsumi, after one of Japanese mythology’s ocean gods. They are marked by grey flags with a red dragon. Small colored dots on the top of the flag specify brigades. Atlantic fleet based out of Ilha das flores (Santa Cruz), code name: Atlantis, a small island close to the center of the Atlantic. This fleet is let by Stephen Woden 56, under the unchanging code name for the Atlantic commander: Atlas. This fleet is marked by red flags adorning gold eagles, with lines on the top to indicate brigade and visually imitate rays of light. HOS roles Farming: The central sections of the islands are designated as farming plots. Most of these are freely worked by a few families. However there are a few Penal farms for previously criminals who were previously in sea-bound roles. Food and Material Transfer: These folks take and package food from the farms and bring them to piers to be picked up by the various ships. These roles are mostly designated to people from sea-bound families who are unfit in one way or another for pillaging. Pillager Brigades: This is the bulk of citizens of the society, who’s job is to raid mainland port bases for needed manufactured materials. Brigades tend to consist of about 5-7 boats. Communication Officials: In charge of managing the communication systems from brigades to their home base or across fleets. This will sometimes require encrypting and decoding skills. Administration: The strategic leaders of each of the aforementioned groups create “The Administration”. The group has sets of each position: One for each the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. They will sometimes be referred to in their fleet-specific capacity (Atlas’ Administration or Watatsumi’s Administration). The fleet’s administration is also in charge of approving or denying the current commander’s choice for a replacement. Housing On the islands of Sleep and Atlantis, standardized living spaces called barracks were built to house both the permanent residents and the pillagers on a temporary stay. Perm-Res Barracks The standard barracks for permanent residents are made with a bit more room and made more acclimated to living space. Each barrack houses 10 people and includes individual rooms for each resident, a set of bathrooms and showers, a common area, and a kitchen. A base schematic is shown to the right. Each room includes a simple bed, desk, and dresser. Other furniture such as bookshelves can be added to the occupant's desire, and rooms can be personalized to quite an extent. However, it should be noted that a typical HOS cultural mindset is very utilitarian, so any excessive purely-aesthetic personalization is very rare. Temporary Pillager Barracks The Barracks created for short-term use by pillagers or other traveling officials are set up less as a living space and more as mere sleep and hygiene quarters. These barracks include four family rooms and six individual rooms. The family rooms include one full-size bed and two child-size beds. The individual rooms include a single bed. All rooms have a simple table and chair, with the family rooms including two. These barracks have bathrooms, including showers, and a small common room. An example schematic is shown to the right (Notice: both Barrack schematics are not to the same scale). Obviously, personalization was near non-existent. Most stays in these temporary barracks were only used for a day or two during boat and personnel maintenance checks. The Octavio Dynasty of Androids The first Android to fully gain control of the Earth gave itself the name Octavio, seeing as it sounded suitably Royal. Ever since then, when one robot emperor would be on the edge of breaking down irreparably (an event which occurs once every 20 years), it would handpick its next successor to take on the title of Emperor Octavio, differentiated by numbers for the sake of tidy historical records. The selection Process for the next Emperor Octavio The selection process for the next Emperor Octavio is complicated--it begins by the current administration searching through the records of all androids currently functioning for hints of leadership ability as well as rank all androids by intelligence (this occurs in the tenth year of an Emperor Octavio's reign). Those androids who rank the highest on both metrics are put on a shortlist of possible candidates, which is then given to the current Emperor Octavio for examination. Those on the shortlist are then informed of this, and given two months to prepare for the Trials. The trials have three sections to test valuable qualities in an emperor--oratory, fighting ability, and an understanding of the legal tradition. The Trials The Trials are broadcast to all the android nations, and are seen as a sort of reality tv show, albeit one with vital real-world consequences. Oratory is tested by each prospective future emperor writing and delivering a speech before the panel of judges (which includes the current emperor and its most trusted advisors), Fighting ability is tested through a duel between the prospective candidate and the captain of the guard (always among the best fighters in the land), and understanding of the legal tradition is tested by a long and very difficult Exam on the topic, analogous to the Bar Exam one takes on other earths to become a lawyer. Once these tests are completed, the current Emperor picks its favorite of the bunch to become the next leader, and recommends the others for specific high level positions in the palace based on which of the three tasks they performed best in. When the next Emperor is selected, it is put into sleep mode and locked away until it is needed to ensure it survives until it can ascend to the throne. Timeline 2173: Android Revolution begins 2185: Octavio 1 ascends to the head of the android revolt with the promise of world domination and the expulsion of all humans. 2189: The Human Liberation League, begins organizing the remaining human population for a mass escape. 2191: Wake Island and Ilha des flores are chosen as specific vantage points for human escape, boats begin leaving the mainland towards these destinations. The androids begin executing swaths of humans deemed not. 2193: Androids claim official domination of the mainland. Human escape is near complete. 2195: Human Oceanic Society (HOS) is officially established. Leadership structures take another few years to be ironed out. 2202: HOS develop undetectable wavelength for communication between the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. Ship Identification codes are finished developing. 2205: Octavio 1 falls to error, a month-long power conflict ends in the rise of Octavio 2, who establishes the trial succession system.